Backstage
by ChicaFrom3
Summary: The story of a jaded rocker, a young Australian, drugs, and a baby. Slightly AU to Fire Water. KarenLiam. Cowritten with Shea. Completed May 24.
1. Chapter 1

Title: Backstage  
Authors: ChicaFrom3 and the Shea  
Rating: PG-13, drug use and drinking, sex, the whole rockstar bit  
Disclaimer: We do not own Charlie, Liam, Karen, or Megan. They belong to JJ Abrams or someone else not us. We also do not own Sinjin, Patrick, Melissa, or Zap. They belong to the lovelies over at Second Tour of Finland (www(dot)driveshaftband(dot)com). We do own Catherine, James, Mrs. Murphy, Naomi, Zap's family, and the poor desk clerk in Dresden.  
Note: The majority of this story was written before Fire+Water aired, and as such is slightly AU.  
Thanks: Thanks to Niki, for beta-ing even while you're sick and amid ten hour shifts at work.

**

* * *

CHAPTER ONE**

Sometimes, Julian "Zap" Quinnell absolutely loved his job.

Not always. A lot of the time, being a roadie-slash-tech for a rock band was not exactly the easiest job in the world. Especially when you factored in drunk and stoned musicians, Sinjin's fondness for blowing out amps, and the fact that very few fangirls gave a damn that you were, after all, _the _head roadie for DriveSHAFT.

And then there were days like today. When the musicians managed to stay reasonably sober through the show, none of the equipment broke, the concert went well from both a technical and musical standpoint, and a large number of very pretty young women were eying Zap appreciatively after discerning his proximity to the band when Sinjin yelled, "Zap, mate!" and gestured him over. The two of them promptly got lost in a complicated discussion about sound levels, which degenerated into planning how best to trash the hotel room.

So now the fangirls knew he was in with the band, which raised him considerably in their eyes. He contemplated them, considering; the equipment could wait, the band was partying backstage, and when the rare opportunity to pick up a star struck DriveSHAFT fangirl came up, well, he wasn't the type to just let it pass.

As he looked over the birds casting him appraising glances, one in particular caught his eye.

Young. Probably about Charlie and Pat's age. Tall and blonde and with legs to die for. She caught his gaze and gave him a small, shy smile.

Zap let his grin broaden. Yeah. There were _definitely _bright spots to being a DriveSHAFT roadie.

Getting over to her proved a bit difficult, but he made it. A few yelled questions and answers, another darling smile, and a suggestive look later, and he was escorting her backstage.

Her name was Karen Murphy and she was from Sydney, a local girl, and she _adored _DriveSHAFT and she and her best mate had had such a hard time getting tickets but it was _so _worth it and, oh my god, do you _really _know the band, like _actually _know them, I mean?

"Sinjin and I have been best mates since we were small children," he told her, and was amused when this received a true fangirl _squee_! "I've even played with DriveSHAFT," he added. "On stage, I mean. Bass. A couple of songs."

"Oh my _God_! You're kidding! That's so amazing!"

"I'll introduce you to everyone." He always enjoyed the fangirls who were so absolutely thrilled to be with anyone connected to the band, himself included. He intended to milk this for all it was worth.

He spotted Charlie coming out of the dressing room, a groupie on his arm, and promptly started maneuvering Karen towards them, swearing she'd love Charlie, everyone did.

Charlie and the girl both had drinks in their hands and Charlie's arm was around her. She was medium height, brunette, she wore glasses, and she was all over Charlie. She was smiling and saying something. By the time Zap and Karen had made their way across the room, they'd both been given drinks and Karen almost spat hers out when Charlie said hello.

Karen said hello, almost shyly, completely unlike how she'd been when talking to Zap. Charlie and Zap chatted for a few minutes and Karen looked around the crowded backstage. Mostly fans, and mostly girls among them. Then her eyes landed on Liam, who was talking and laughing with another guy, one of the techs.

"Oh my god, there's Liam!" Karen made a noise that could only be described as a squeal, and tugged on Zap's arm. "Introduce me, please?" Her eyes sparkled and Zap, of course, couldn't resist.

He smiled and nodded to Charlie and headed with Karen over to Liam.

"Zap! Hey!" Liam greeted Zap. "And who's this?" Liam touched Karen's shoulder.

Karen smiled her cute shy smile and said her name. "I loved the show tonight," she added, awe in her voice. She finished her drink, and held the empty glass, unsure of what to do with it.

Liam slipped his hand into her free hand. "Let's go get you another one of those, luv."

Karen's face lit up and she followed Liam through the crowd.

Zap sighed, he wasn't particularly surprised. Liam was charming, after all, and he meant that in a purely platonic way. It still disappointed him though. Zap grabbed a drink from the nearest random person and downed it in one gulp.

"Hey!" the person protested.

"Oh, sorry," Zap apologized, not really paying attention. He turned around and went back in the direction they'd come from, to see if he could catch up with Charlie.

* * *

Karen held her glass as Liam poured her another drink. She took a sip and Liam put his arm around her. Karen's heart did a little flip.

"So, um, how long are you going to be in Sydney?" Karen asked.

"A couple more days," Liam said, smiling charmingly. "Have two more shows, and then it's back on the road."

"Oh." Being in _Liam Pace_'s presence was like being pleasantly drunk, she decided. Her mind was buzzing slightly, she was having difficulty forming complete sentences, and she had never been happier.

"And you, luv?" Liam asked.

"Oh! Me? Um…I'm, I'm, I'm from here, actually. I live here. In Sydney." Karen could have kicked herself. She sounded like an idiot.

But Liam just kept smiling. "Really? You like it?"

"Yeah, um, it's…its great." She held her breath and ventured, "Not as exciting as it must be to be a rock god."

Liam nodded, as if in agreement. "Come, let's sit." Liam led Karen over to an empty sofa and they sat down.

"So. What was it like growing up in Manchester?" Karen ventured.

Liam shrugged, arm still around Karen. "It wasn't bad."

* * *

Several hours and drinks later, Karen and Liam were still on the couch, his arm around her.

"Favourite colour?" Liam asked.

"Green," Karen answered. "Favourite teacher in secondary school?"

Liam sighed. "Hated school—"

"Oh my god!" Karen had glimpsed her watch. "I have to go or I won't get a bus until morning!" she started to stand up and Liam stood up with her. "I had fun tonight." Karen smiled.

"Come to the show tomorrow night," Liam said, not as a question.

Karen nodded. Liam leaned down and kissed her. Karen blushed, smiled, and turned to leave.

* * *

She took the bus home, the last one on her route for the night, and she'd barely caught it. Each bus stop one or two people would get on, and Karen willed the bus to go faster. She _had_ to get home and call Rachel, and tell her everything that happened.

Finally, the bus stopped at the stop down the street from her house, and she nearly ran the half block. The house was dark, it was nearly three in the morning, after all, and she let herself in as quietly as she could. She went up to her room, flicked on the light, and dialed Rachel's number.

It rang a few times, and then Rachel's voice answered. "Karen? Why are you up so late?" Rachel sounded to have been woken up. Karen felt sort of guilty.

"I just got home. I was backstage! One of the techies got me in, and I spent the whole night with _Liam Pace_!" Karen tried to keep her voice soft as not to wake her mother.

"Oh my god! What did you do?" Rachel sounded far more awake.

"Rachel! We just talked, is all. And he drank a lot. More than me," Karen said. "And, I'm going to the show tomorrow night! It's across the city, but I'll take the bus."

"Karen, is that such a good idea?" Rachel's voice sobered.

"He asked me to go! He wants to see me again!" Karen exclaimed. She cringed when she heard her mother's bed creak, but not another sound, so she must not have woken up.

"Hey, Karen? I have to work tomorrow. I'll talk to you tomorrow or something, okay?" Rachel gave up on the convincing-Karen-not-to-go-or-at-least-not-alone thing and hung up.

Karen hung her phone up and crawled into bed. She drifted off to sleep, mind still buzzing with excitement and, of course, the alcohol.

* * *

After the concert the next night, Karen merely had to flash a smile at Zap and he waved her through security, a bemused, resigned smile on his face.

Liam saw her and beamed, motioning her to come over. When she reached him he kissed her and shoved a glass in her hand and said, "You made it! What'd you think of the show?"

"It was amazing," she said, still slightly in awe of him, and drained the glass to try to bolster her confidence.

Liam looked amused and called for someone to get her another drink. When it was in her hand, he slid an arm around her, smiled encouragingly. "So you liked the show?"

"Brilliant," she told him, took a gulp of her drink, and smiled back at him. "_You _were brilliant."

"Thank you." She had the feeling that he was laughing at her but the alcohol was already making her brain buzz, and she didn't really care.

Distracted, she examined her drink, pulled out the tiny little umbrella, and showed it to Liam. "You know, I've never understood the point of these," she told him earnestly. "Why does the drink need an umbrella? It's not raining."

"That, luv, is a very good question. Have you ever had one of these before tonight?"

"Uhm…no," she admitted.

"Ah. That explains it."

She was playing with the umbrella now, moving it around and watching with wide eyes as it seemed to fly. But she looked up at him when he said that. "Explains what?"

Liam smiled. "Never mind."

Impulsively, she leaned over and kissed him quickly. "You know, you're _Liam Pace_," she told him solemnly.

"Am I?"

She nodded.

"And you…" He tapped her on the nose, "Are Karen Murphy."

"I am," she agreed.

He took the little umbrella from her hand and tucked it in her hair, behind her ear. "You know, luv," he said. "It's pretty loud in here. What do you say we go somewhere quieter?"

* * *

Liam was already kissing Karen by the time they'd managed to find his key and get into his hotel room. She giggled and shrugged away from him and said primly, "I hafff…I have to go freshen up."

"Awww," he complained, and threw himself down on the couch dramatically. "Well, hurry back, luv."

She stumbled into the bathroom, wondering why the room was spinning, and then decided that she rather liked it.

She was in _DriveSHAFT's _bathroom.

_Liam Pace _was waiting for her in the next room.

She couldn't stop smiling.

She ran her fingers through her hair, tried to straighten her clothes, and studied her reflection in the mirror, but couldn't quite seem to focus.

Liam was waiting.

She giggled again, smiled at herself, and went back to where Liam still lounged.

He nearly pounced on her as soon as she was out the door. He covered her with kisses and murmured something about locking the door, his hands sliding under her T-shirt to undo her bra…

* * *

Karen opened the front door and stepped in, thankful to be out of the sunlight. Her relief lasted only a couple seconds, until she looked up and saw her mother, standing there in her flannel nightgown, curlers in her hair.

"Karen! Where were you!" her mother said, in a tone that was half upset and half concerned.

"Can we talk about this later, Mum? My eyes are bleeding." Karen started towards the stairs.

"Hold it right there, missy." Mrs. Murphy's voice was stern and had lost the concerned tone of before. "You're not going anywhere until you tell me where you were."

"I was out," Karen said and offered no more details.

Her mother just stared at her. "We'll continue this later. You go sleep. And you better call Rachel; she called about midnight last night."

Karen made a grunting sort of noise, and went upstairs.

When she came downstairs, her mother, now dressed, was sitting at the kitchen table. Karen knew as she came into the room that it was too late to turn around and hope her mother hadn't seen her.

"Sit down, honey." Karen sat. "Would you now care to tell me where you were last night?"

"I told you. I was out. At a concert. I told you that's where I'd be when I left last night."

Mrs. Murphy shifted in her chair. "Mhm. And where you after the concert was over?"

"I was… with some friends." Karen decided that lying to her mother was the best option in this case.

"I see." Mrs. Murphy stood up. "Are you going out tonight?"

"I plan to," Karen said and stood up to pour a glass of water.

Mrs. Murphy sighed, but said nothing.

* * *

Karen had called Rachel a bit later, knowing she'd be home from work. Rachel realized she couldn't talk Karen out of going to that night's show, and had instead decided she'd come along.

And that was why Rachel was clinging to her arm, standing on her tiptoes, and looking around, as though looking for people to protect her friend from, or something.

Karen, on the other hand, was trying to ditch her, so she could get backstage, and back to Liam. It wasn't easy with Rachel practically glued to her, but she managed, yelling something to her about using the bathroom.

The night went somewhat like the previous night, drinking, going back to the hotel with Liam. When she woke up the next morning, she dressed and started to let herself out.

"Karen. Wait." Liam got out of bed, wrapped the sheet around himself, and stumbled over to the door. "Hey, we're leaving Sydney today, for the tour. Come with me, it'll be fun, and I want you around."

Karen paused, and drew her hand back from the doorknob. She smiled. "I'd like that." She opened the door. "I'll come back, I need to get some things from home."

Liam nodded. "Okay."

Karen smiled again. "'Kay."

* * *

Karen was numb the entire bus ride home. It was starting to sink in. She was going, with Liam, for the next two months, give or take, on the band's tour! She contemplated calling Rachel when she got home, but remembered that she'd ditched her the night before and felt guilty.

When she got home, it was quiet, her mother was in bed, hadn't stayed up for her. She grabbed the things she'd need- clothes, hairbrush, etc. Her mother still hadn't woken up, so Karen ripped a page off the pad by the phone and wrote a note to her mother. She told her mum the truth about everything that had happened over the past couple of days, and where she was going. Satisfied, she left the house, and went back to the hotel.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO**

Two weeks later, Karen woke up, in the hotel in Melbourne. She went into the bathroom. She noticed as she was getting dressed, that she still hadn't gotten her period. It was over a week late.

The first thought that fluttered through her mind was that she was pregnant. She tried to dismiss that thought, but it kept nagging at the back of her mind. She decided to go for a walk, and let herself out without waking up Liam.

The day was chilly, and despite that, the streets were pretty busy. She breathed in the air and tried to enjoy the walk, but she couldn't put out of her mind the fact that she had missed her period.

'Okay, fine. There's a chemist's down the street a little way. I'll get a test, just so I can know for sure,' Karen told herself, and quickened her pace, now that she had a destination.

She went in, and looked around for the pregnancy tests. She'd never really had reason to look for one before. She found them and picked one up.

She paid for it and walked back to the hotel. Karen locked herself in the suite's bathroom and took the white plastic test out of the box, along with the instructions.

"Okay, peeing on a stick. I can do that," Karen said to herself, quietly. She calmed herself down and did the test. Then came the waiting. She looked back at the instructions. Two blue lines means it's positive.

Karen took deep breaths and tried not to panic while waiting. The time passed like an eternity, but it finally gave the results.

Two little blue lines.

* * *

Zap was headed down the hotel corridor back to his room to pick up some equipment to set up for tonight's show when Karen came hurrying along in the opposite direction, head down, face streaked with tears.

"Karen?" he said, alarmed. "What's wrong, luv?"

"I—I—I—" She raised her head, looked at him, and burst into tears.

He leapt forward, wrapped his arms around her, and waited.

"I'm pregnant," she sobbed out finally.

Zap froze. Then he forced himself to swallow and said, "Does Liam know yet?"

She paled and shook her head.

"When are you going to tell him? _How_ are you going to tell him? I—"

"I don't know!" she wailed.

At a loss, he hugged her again and said, "Don't worry, luv, we'll work all this out. It'll be all right. I promise."

Karen just cried.

* * *

Liam moved easily through the crowd backstage, smiling and nodding at all the people who wanted to congratulate him on another great show.

He found Karen hanging back away from the bulk of people. He frowned, grabbed a couple drinks, and headed over to her. Gave her a kiss and shoved one of the glasses in her hand.

She shook her head and pushed it back into his hand.

"What's wrong?" he asked, bewildered. She wasn't usually the type to turn down a drink or a hit.

She said something but he couldn't make it out over the general din of people talking.

"What?" He motioned for her to speak up.

She blinked a couple times, eyes suspiciously glassy, then shouted at him, "Let's get out of here! I need to tell you something!"

He scowled. The post-show party was just getting started. The idea of leaving didn't really appeal to him. "Can it wait? I've got people to talk to, luv, and—"

"No, I really think you need to hear this!" she shouted.

Another frown. But, oh, screw it, they could come back to the party afterwards, and when she wasn't happy, bad things tended to happen. So he nodded and grabbed her hand and they pushed their way through the crowd. Charlie nodded at them briefly as they passed, eyes glazed over, but Liam ignored him and pushed Karen into the dressing room, empty for the moment. He closed the door behind them, shutting out most of the clamor.

"So?" he asked. "What is it?"

She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, sat down on the couch, and said in almost a whisper, "I'm pregnant."

The glass dropped out of Liam's hand and shattered on the floor. He stared at her, uncomprehending. "You're _what_?"

"I'm pregnant, and you're not really making me feel any better, Liam!" She sounded on the verge of tears.

"I just—" His mouth worked. "How can you be pregnant?"

Karen shot him a dirty look. "You see, Liam, when a man and a woman love each other very much—"

"Stop it." He sat down. "I—you're _pregnant_?"

"Yes!"

"I—" He shook his head. "I need some air," he said, got up, and walked out.

Karen remained where she was, struggling not to cry.

* * *

"She's _pregnant_!" Liam ranted. "How can she be pregnant? We were careful!"

"Were you?" Zap asked skeptically.

"The point is she wasn't supposed to get pregnant! What am I going to do, Ju?" He collapsed on the couch.

"You're going to do the right thing," Zap snapped. "She _is _pregnant and you're going to be a man about this."

Liam ignored this. "How much d'you think it'd cost to send her back to Sydney? I'm sure her mother could—"

"Liam!"

The rocker looked at him.

"You are not going to ditch Karen now that she's pregnant! It's your responsibility and you're not going to shrug it off onto someone else!" Zap couldn't believe Liam was even thinking about this.

"I can't be a father, Zap!"

"Well, you're going to have to be," Zap shouted back, stood up, and stormed out, slamming the door shut behind him.

* * *

Karen went back to the hotel room. She was tired, but didn't feel like going to bed. Instead, she curled up on the couch, knees pulled up against her chest. She had no idea what she was going to do. Liam obviously wasn't happy.

So Karen did the only thing she could think of. She called her mother.

The phone rang twice, three times.

"Hello?" the familiar voice said.

"Hi Mum," Karen said.

"Karen! I was wondering if you were ever going to call." There was no emotion in the voice.

"Mum. I, uh. Um. I'm pregnant." Karen wondered how many times she would have to say that one sentence before completely destroying her life.

"Karen…" Her mother sighed. "What do you expect me to do? You ran off with some rock star, don't call me at all, and now you're calling because you've got a problem? If you're old enough to get yourself into this situation, you're old enough to deal with it."

"Mum…"

"I'm sorry Karen. But if you don't even think enough of me to tell me that you were leaving, then you expect who-knows-what from me now, well, you're just going to have to fix this yourself."

"Okay. Um. Bye, Mum." Karen didn't wait for her mum to say anything before she hung up the phone. She fought back tears, she still had one more call to make.

She picked up the receiver and dialed Rachel's number. There was no answer and the machine picked up.

"Hi, this is Rachel. If I'm not here, I'm probably at work. Leave a message and calls will be returned if I feel like it." The machine beeped.

Karen couldn't quite think of what to say, and almost hung up, but she didn't. Instead she said, "Hey, Rachel, this is Karen. I know you probably hate me right about now, and I assume Mum told you where I am. Anyway, I thought it only fair to let you know that I'm pregnant," that makes four times, Karen thought, "and I have no idea what I'm going to do. I guess I'll see you if I see you. Bye." Karen hung up the phone. She could hear someone coming down the hall, and so she got up, and locked herself in the bathroom. Whoever was out there likely wasn't Liam, it was way too early for him to be back, but in the case it was, Karen didn't want to talk to him right now.

She sat on the counter by the sink, her back to the mirror. Tears trickled down her cheeks.

* * *

Liam took a deep breath and pushed the door open. He couldn't see Karen and it was quiet. "Karen? Are you in here?" he called.

"Where else would I go?" she called from the bathroom.

Liam walked across the room to the closed bathroom door. "Karen? Come out, please."

There was silence. Then, the lock clicked and the door opened. Karen come out, her eyes red and puffy from crying. "I talked to my mum."

"And?" Liam asked. After all, it wouldn't be his fault if Karen wanted to leave.

"Yeah, she pretty much told me not to come back." Karen wiped her cheek with her hand. Her face scrunched up and she started crying again. "What am I supposed to do?"

Liam pulled her into a hug. "I don't know."

Karen cried into his shirt for a bit and then pulled back. "I'm going to get some water, or something." Liam let her go and watched as she left the room.

He kind of panicked. There was no way he could ditch her now, after what Zap had said to him, and now knowing that she didn't really have a home to go back to, but he didn't know what he could do.

So Liam did the only thing he could think of. He called his mother.

As could be expected, she yelled at him for a bit. Then, and this being the reason Liam thought to call her in the first place, she helped.

"What are you going to go?" she asked.

"That's why I called, Mum. I don't know."

"Okay, Liam, let's start at the beginning. You have to do something about this. You can't leave her on her own with a baby. You're leaving the country in a month. You can't stay there."

"Right."

"And she doesn't have anywhere to go, right?"

"Right."

"So she has to come back with you." Mrs. Pace said simply.

Liam let this sink in. It made sense. Except for one thing.

"But I'm not ready to be a father!" Liam protested.

"You should have thought about that, then, shouldn't you?" It was obvious that his mother was not going to let this go.

Liam was silent.

"Oh, and I'm looking forward to meeting this girl. See you soon," Mrs. Pace added.

"Night." Liam hung up the phone.

Liam leaned back and sighed. How was he supposed to tell Karen this?

He was really working himself into a funk when the door opened and Karen came back in. She had a paper bag in her hand.

"What's in the bag?" Liam looked up.

"Fudge brownie ice cream. I deserve it." Karen put the bag down on the table and disappeared into the bedroom. She came out a few minutes later in a pair of sweats and a tank top. She sat down with the ice cream and started eating it right out of the carton.

"So. Karen," Liam started.

Karen looked up from her ice cream. "Yeah?"

"I was thinking, since I'm going home in a month, and I can't just leave you here with the baby, um, that you would come back to England with me?" Liam blurted out.

Karen looked surprised. "You're actually going to take responsibility for this? I kind of expected to be on the first plane to Sydney tomorrow."

Liam felt somewhat guilty, that having been his first plan. "Well, I, um-"

"I'll think about it. Last time I agreed to go with you, well, look where I am now!" She dug her spoon angrily into the ice cream. "Just… I'll think about it. I don't exactly have any other options right now."

She ate some more of the ice cream in silence before putting the lid back on. "I'm going to bed. It's been a long day." Karen got up and went into the bedroom, closing the door most of the way. Liam heard the light flick off.

* * *

"Another generation of Paces." Sinjin clutched at his chest dramatically. "I don't think I can stand it."

Pat poked him in the side. "This is serious, Sinjin."

"Who isn't being serious?"

"Lord, Liam," Charlie said. "What are you going to do?"

"I invited her to come back to England with us," Liam muttered.

His brother gave him a look that plainly asked whether he was an idiot. "Well, _obviously_."

"Yeah," Sinjin agreed. "What, were you going to leave her in Australia?" He laughed.

Liam kept his mouth shut.

"No, come on, she'll love England," Pat predicted confidently. "She'll have a blast. And Melissa will be around to help out, she loves kids—"

A groan went up at the mention of Pat's girlfriend, and Charlie grabbed the couch pillow to hit the drummer playfully.

"Wait," Sinjin interrupted abruptly. "You said you _invited her_. Is she coming or isn't she?"

Liam grimaced. "Dunno, she said she'd have to think about it."

"What's to think about!" Charlie demanded.

He shrugged.

"And all the new colors," Sinjin sang, "And pictures you've designed/Oh, yes, sweet darlin'/So glad you are a chi-ild of mine/Child of mine, chi-ild of mine…"

Liam wrestled the pillow away from his brother and hit Sinjin.

* * *

"I'll go," Karen announced abruptly, stomping into the hotel room and sitting next to Liam on the couch.

He blinked, weirdly disconcerted. "Oh. Uhm. Good?"

"Because," she continued, "It's not like I exactly have any other options. And I can't handle this on my own. And you're at _least _as responsible for this situation as I am. So I'll go with you to England."

Liam nodded, feeling overwhelmed. He shifted his weight on the couch. "Right. Okay."


	3. Chapter 3

**Title**: Backstage  
**Authors**: ChicaFrom3 and the Shea  
**Rating**: PG-13, drug use and drinking, sex, the whole rockstar bit  
**Disclaimer**: We do not own Charlie, Liam, Karen, or Megan. They belong to JJ Abrams or someone else not us. We also do not own Sinjin, Patrick, Melissa, or Zap. They belong to the lovelies over at Second Tour of Finland (www(dot)driveshaftband(dot)com). We do own Catherine, James, Mrs. Murphy, Naomi, Zap's family, and the poor desk clerk in Dresden.  
**Note**: The majority of this story was written before Fire+Water aired, and as such is slightly AU.  
Thanks: Thanks to Niki, for beta-ing even while you're sick and amid ten hour shifts at work.  
**Other notes: **Yeah, I suck. Will be trying to get the updates out in a more timely fashion. I'm very sorry for the delay.

**

* * *

CHAPTER THREE**

After a long flight from Sydney, the plane landed at the airport in London. When everything had been collected and organized, Charlie took a long look around and said, "Hey, guys, you know this is London, right?"

Five pairs of eyes looked at him. After a moment, Zap spoke up. "And?"

"And how are we getting to Manchester?"

Silence. Then everyone started talking and trying to pin the blame on someone else.

Finally, Zap, who had not slept in at least two days and who was starting to get a headache, yelled, "Everyone, _shut up!_" Everyone shut up. "We'll hire a couple of cars and drive. Just, stop yelling. I have a headache." He started to walk away and everyone quickly picked up their stuff and followed.

An hour or so later, they were on the road. Well, they would've been, if there wasn't so damn much traffic. You would think everyone in the entire city was trying to get out.

Zap was driving the first car, which also had Karen (asleep in the front seat), and Liam and Sinjin, who had the back seat windows rolled down, and were leaning out of them, shouting back to the second car, which Charlie and Pat had taken. A quick glance in the mirror showed Pat leaning out his window as well.

Zap rolled his eyes, and instead of yelling at Liam and Sinjin, simply used the automatic window controls to close the back windows. They climbed back in pretty quick. Before either could protest, Zap said, "You're in my car, you follow my rules. That means you keep your body parts _inside_ the car."

It went well. For about fifteen minutes. This time, Zap didn't bother with the windows and instead just yelled, "Okay, fine, but don't come crawling to me if you lose anything!" This was shaping up to be a long trip.

A few hours and a bloody nose later, Zap pulled into the Pace's driveway to let off Liam and Karen. Charlie would be round later, he had to drop off Pat.

Catherine Pace came rushing out of the house to meet them. "You must be Karen!" she greeted the younger woman brightly, completely ignoring her son.

"Hi, Mum," Liam tried.

"You must be Mrs. Pace," Karen answered, smiling nervously.

"Call me Catherine, dear, we're going to be family, aren't we? You're my grandchild's mother! Oh, you must be exhausted, come inside…" and she ushered Karen into the house.

Liam rolled his eyes and scowled. "I'll just stay out here then!" he shouted after them.

No answer came back.

He sighed, grabbed the bags, and headed in.

* * *

Karen collapsed in the bed in Liam's room with her very best dramatic sigh. Only problem was, no one was around to hear it, which annoyed her a little, but oh well.

It wasn't that she wasn't enjoying England. She was. And Liam's parents were great to her. Catherine was an absolute angel, and they got along wonderfully. James was very friendly and kind and went out of his way to make her feel at home with them.

She was vaguely amused by how Liam-at-home differed from Liam-the-touring-rock-star. How hard he and Charlie both worked to conceal their drug use from their parents, as opposed to how open it was when they were on the road. How contrite he was around his mother.

The problem was, she barely saw the boy and had absolutely no idea where she stood with him. She was having his baby and didn't know what his plans were. Whether he wanted to be involved in the child's life or just support financially, whether he wanted _her _in his life or was just keeping her around out of a sense of obligation, whether he hated her for ruining his life or had come to terms with this.

She didn't know, and it was killing her.

She groaned, pulled herself up to a sitting position, and said aloud, "Stop feeling sorry for yourself! You're living in bloody England with not just one but _two _rock stars. Everyone's doing their very best to make you feel at home. And you're sitting here pitying yourself. Well, stop it. It's pathetic."

Karen forced herself to take a deep breath. Everything was going to be okay. Well, not okay. She, Karen Murphy, was having a child. It probably would never really be okay again. But it would work out.

Probably.

* * *

"Happy Christmas!" Sinjin bellowed, slamming the door behind him.

He was greeted by…absolute silence.

Rolling his eyes, the guitarist dropped his jacket on the couch and went pounding up the stairs to Liam's room, banged the door open, and shouted, "Happy Chrimbo!"

Liam slept on. Karen started awake with a gasp, sat up straight in bed, and then glared at Sinjin. "Adam David St. John!"

He grinned, unperturbed. "Are you going to sleep through all December? Get up! There are preparations to do!"

"It's…what time is it? What are you doing in our _room_?"

He ignored her and proceeded to try to shake Liam awake. "Pace!" he yelled. "Wake up!"

Liam woke up slowly, trying to bat away the hand that shoved him back and forth. He blinked and peered blearily up at his friend. "Sinjin?"

"Liam?"

"What are you doing here?"

"It's December! Happy Chrimbo! There are prep—"

Sinjin was cut off by a loud groan and a pillow connecting soundly with his mouth.

Liam looked at Karen. "This…is the insanity that is Adam St. John. Every December he goes crazy over Christmas and expects everyone else to go crazy with him."

She laughed and was surprised that it felt real.

Liam addressed Sinjin again. "Go home. Come back at a godly hour. Maybe then I'll be able to summon up the energy to deal with you."

"Noooo. Come on, get up, now. Shopping. I need a tree. I'm guessing you do, too. And presents for everybody. And then breaking out the decorations and—"

Liam slugged him with the pillow again. "Go bother Charlie," he groused and dove back under the blankets.

"Wanna bother you some more first," Sinjin said brightly, and Karen wondered yet again how he managed to have so much energy so early in the morning.

"Sinjin," Liam slurred, muffled by the blankets. "Go to hell."

"Gah." Sinjin scowled, looked back at Karen. "Well, what of you, luv? Up and at 'em! It's Christmastime in the city…"

She giggled. "Well, why not? I'm awake anyway…"

* * *

Three hours later, Karen was standing in a Christmas tree lot with Sinjin, Zap, Catherine, and Liam, who had finally been dragged out of bed. Zap and Catherine had rolled their eyes many times, obviously very used to Sinjin going overboard for the holidays; Karen was left in a state of mild bemusement; Charlie had managed to get out of it by claiming to be ill.

"Now," Sinjin announced, glaring around at the trees as if they were conspiring against the group. "The Paces need a tree. How big? How much family coming over this year?"

"They're not," Catherine said crisply. "Just a small, intimate gathering this year. Immediate family only."

Sinjin blinked. "What?"

"You heard me, Adam."

"But…you all _always _have the big family holidays."

"Not this year."

"Why not?" Liam asked blankly.

"Because of me," Karen said softly in realization.

Catherine stared fixedly at a six-foot tree and didn't answer.

"Mum," Liam protested.

"Liam," she said sharply. "While your father and I are absolutely _thrilled _that you two have chosen to have this child out of wedlock, the rest of the family may not feel the same way, and I hardly feel that Christmas is the time to spring the news on them."

Karen dug her fingernails into her palm, feeling sick. Zap and Sinjin were looking studiously elsewhere, obviously acutely embarrassed. Liam flushed.

"Liam," Catherine began again.

"No, you know what, Mum? I just…" He stopped, bit his lip. "No, forget it, just…forget it. C'mon, Karen, I'll take you home."

Karen let Liam hustle her out of the tree lot, but she could barely see through her tears.

* * *

"You have brought them abundant joy and great rejoicing…"

Liam clenched his fingers on his Bible and tried to force himself to breathe.

Christmas so far had been…tense. And he wasn't really expecting it to get any better. Thank God it was almost over.

Sinjin, Zap, and Pat had picked up the hint pretty quickly and were giving the Pace home a wide berth. Charlie had also been suspiciously absent for much of the time, showing up for family events only when he was absolutely required to.

"…As they rejoice before you as at the harvest, as men make merry when dividing spoils."

And to top it all off, he knew full well it was his own fault that this Christmas was so uncomfortable. He was the one who'd gotten a girl pregnant and not married her. He was the one who had brought shame to a good Catholic family.

His fault…and there was nothing he could do about it.

He silently thanked the band's manager for the fact that in two months, DriveSHAFT was back on the road, touring, and he could get away from this whole nightmare.

"…For a child is born to us, a son is given us; upon his shoulder dominion rests…"


	4. Chapter 4

Title: Backstage  
Authors: ChicaFrom3 and the Shea  
Rating: PG-13, drug use and drinking, sex, the whole rockstar bit  
Disclaimer: We do not own Charlie, Liam, Karen, or Megan. They belong to JJ Abrams or someone else not us. We also do not own Sinjin, Patrick, Melissa, or Zap. They belong to the lovelies over at Second Tour of Finland (www(dot)driveshaftband(dot)com). We do own Catherine, James, Mrs. Murphy, Naomi, Zap's family, and the poor desk clerk in Dresden.  
Note: The majority of this story was written before Fire+Water aired, and as such is slightly AU. Many apologies for the long delay in posting; to make up for it, you get two chapters at once!  
Thanks: Thanks to Niki, for beta-ing even while you're sick and amid ten hour shifts at work.

**

* * *

CHAPTER FOUR**

"Well, Ms…" Dr. Orestes flipped the folder open, "Murphy, everything seems to be fine."

Karen relaxed her grip on Liam's hand and let out her breath. Liam didn't understand why Karen was so worried. The last visit she had been fine, too.

"I'll see you here again in another month." Dr. Orestes closed the folder and started toward the door to her office. "I'll let you get dressed." She went into her office and closed the door.

Liam left and stood in the hall outside. Things were moving so fast. This wasn't even supposed to happen in the first place, but it did, and now, here he was, almost five months later and things were just getting further and further out of his control.

At first, of course, he'd been quite upset. It was a surprise, and a rather big one. Then there had been all sorts of things that needed to be done for Karen to live in England, and the rest of the tour, but now things were starting to settle down. Karen seemed to be settling in fine, she got on well with his parents, and she, for the most part, didn't seem to completely hate him.

She wasn't as distant as she had been after finding out about the baby, back in Australia. The news had had time to sink in and both of them had, if not gotten used to it, at least accepted that it was real and that they had to deal with it. She'd been more affectionate and they were now more… how could this be explained? More like a couple. Doing couple-y things. Going out for dinner, watching films together, those sorts of things. Aside from a few dates here and there in secondary school, this was completely different from any of Liam's relationships.

Of course, there was the baby. Liam had tried not to think about that, as much as possible. He didn't have much of a choice though, with these doctor visits, Karen's odd cravings, and the fact that neither of his parents had really said much to him in the past couple of months. Christmas had been very tense, and there weren't even the scores of relatives flocking around. It had been a small family Christmas. At least, that's what the relatives were told. 'We've decided to have a small Christmas this year, with only the immediate family.'

The baby was due on May 14th, in about five months. Five months that would no doubt go far too fast. Karen had tried to find a job, but had had no luck. Not many employers were jumping at hiring a pregnant woman. An unmarried pregnant woman, even. Karen had felt guilty about not being to find a job, she was uneasy with letting Mr. and Mrs. Pace pay for everything she needed.

Karen emerged from the doctor's examination room, and she and Liam left the clinic.

Karen hummed quietly as the cashier rung through her few groceries. She looked around absentmindedly. Her gaze fell on the magazine rack, the one with all the tabloids with the outrageous headlines. She'd always enjoyed flipping through them to see the ridiculous stories that went with the headlines.

Her heart nearly stopped as her eyes landed on one of the celebrity gossip ones. She was on it! Well, her and Liam, leaving a restaurant. She remembered that restaurant, the food was pretty good. The headline read 'Has DriveShaft wild child Liam finally settled down?' Karen picked up the magazine and took a closer look at it.

"Would you like that, also, miss?" the cashier asked.

Karen looked up. "Uh, yeah." She put the magazine down for the cashier to scan, and then shoved it in her purse.

When she got on the bus, she pulled out the magazine again. She stared at the cover again for a moment, before flipping it open to the right page.

'_The self-professed lifelong bachelor has been spotted with Karen Murphy, one of the many women that accompany Liam on his nights out. Has Liam found the Ms. Right or yet another Ms. Right Now?' _Karen didn't bother reading all of it and looked at the rest of the pictures. They were mostly of them from that night, and a few from other times. On the bus, in the café.

People started looking at her and so she shoved the magazine back into her purse.

Yup. Her life was officially out of control.

"My life is officially out of control!" Liam shouted, letting the door slam shut behind him.

Charlie blinked up at him. "Well, _that _didn't come out of nowhere…"

Pat laughed. "The baby thing getting to you?"

"No. The baby thing got to me long ago. That would not be news."

"Then what's the new problem?" Sinjin asked.

Liam reached into his jacket and produced a tabloid magazine. For a moment his band mates were absolutely blank, and then almost in synchronization they cracked up.

"It's not funny!" Liam shouted. "Karen's freaking out about this!"

"Yes," Pat choked out through peals of laughter. "Yes, no, we know, it's completely serious, no laughing matter…"

"Patrick!"

But they just kept laughing.

When Sinjin managed to suck in enough air to speak coherently again, he said, "So, 'wild child', how's it feel to be all settled down!"

"Sinjin!"

It was hopeless.

Karen rolled over in bed to face Liam's back. He was sound asleep. This didn't so much matter to Karen, she had a craving for a Marmite sandwich, and nothing was going to stop her from getting one. Karen glared at Liam, hoping he'd wake up on his own. Sensing her need for food, or something. He didn't.

Karen sighed and put her hand on Liam's shoulder. He didn't react at all, so Karen shook his shoulder. "Liam!" she hissed. No reaction. She shook him again, more urgently this time. He could sleep through anything, which didn't really help Karen at this point.

She was obviously getting nowhere. She sighed again and climbed out of bed, and felt her way over to the door. She shut her eyes tight and covered them, and flicked on the light.

Liam woke up and screamed. He covered his eyes. "What do you want?" he snapped.

"A Marmite sandwich."

Liam groaned and covered his head with the pillow. "Make yourself one."

"I can't. There isn't any Marmite left. I ate it earlier."

Liam was silent for a minute, as though he was deciding what to say. "Well what do you want me to do then?"

Karen smiled.

Twenty minutes later, give or take, Liam was standing in the line at the all night grocery down the block, clutching the itty bitty jar of Marmite. The clock behind the counter read 3:25.

Karen had woken him up, rather unpleasantly, not so much demanding Marmite, but subtly hinting that she would not hesitate to kill him if he didn't get her some. He'd dealt with her weird cravings before, but until now they had restrained themselves to decent hours. Namely, ones with sunlight and not while he was sleeping.

But here he was, not because he liked being woken up at 3 AM, but because he would never have let himself get away with ignoring Karen. Aside from the fact that in this situation, it was nearly impossible to ignore her, given that she had turned the light on, he would have felt guilty.

It was all a moot point anyway, now, since he was already up and only two people away from paying for the Marmite.

The two people went through quickly. A young guy with a box of condoms, and an older guy with a bag of crisps. Liam paid for the Marmite, and went home, where he found Karen in the kitchen, waiting.

She snatched the bag and made her sandwiches faster than Liam had seen any person ever make a sandwich.

"You don't have to wait for me, you can go back to bed if ya want," Karen said before biting into the first sandwich.

So Liam did. He was really tired, and besides, she said he could.

"No, you're coming, too," Karen said in her and-that's-that voice and flung open the door. She was surprised to find Zap standing there.

"Hi," Zap said.

"Wha-what are you doing here?" Karen stammered. Liam hung back, taking his time putting on his shoes.

"Thanks a lot. I'm taking you baby shopping." Zap turned around and started toward his car. He stopped about halfway and turned around. "Are you coming?"

Karen still stood in the doorway. "I thought we were meeting Catherine." She was still slightly in shock.

"Change of plans." Zap got into the car.

Karen followed, dragging Liam out the door with her.

While in the car, Zap tried to explain. "Catherine rang me fifteen minutes ago. She was held up at work. And besides, no offense to her, but she's only done this twice. I've helped raise- and shop for- five Quinnell bratlings, so I do have more experience."

"Really, five?" Karen asked.

"My parents were ambitious. I'm not the oldest, either. But enough about me, how are you feeling?"

Zap and Karen chatted while Liam pouted in the backseat. He hadn't wanted to go baby shopping in the first place- it added a sort of finality to the whole situation- and definitely not with his mother, but this was much, much worse. At least with his mother, he could complain and stuff, she was his mother, but Zap, he was doing this out of the goodness of his heart. He'd dropped whatever plans he'd made, to baby shop, fifteen minutes ago.

And of course, this all had to be done today, the only Saturday left before the band left on tour, and while Liam would prefer not to be along for this, his mother insisted it was necessary.

The baby shop was one of those buildings that looked smaller on the outside, and Karen and Zap, with Liam in tow, walked inside. The lights were bright and there were aisles and aisles of baby things. Karen gawked a little at it. Zap whipped out a piece of paper and got right to work.

"Big things first, do you need a crib?" Zap asked.

Karen looked unsure. "Erm, I think we're just going to use Liam and Charlie's. Catherine said but I don't remember."

Zap marked something on the paper with his pen and said, "We'll leave it. Ask Catherine and come back and order one if you need one."

And so it began. Zap led them up and down the aisles, grabbing things he deemed necessary and marking them off on the list. Karen followed, giving input when asked. Liam followed, apathetically picking things up and putting them back down, not even bothering to seem the slightest bit interested.

Zap stopped abruptly and Karen nearly bumped into him. He was holding two boxes of baby wipes, each a different brand.

"My mum always complained about one of these brands but I can't remember which. I'm pretty sure it was this one," he shook one box, "or maybe this one." Zap shook the other box. "No, this…" Zap trailed off. "I'll call my mum."

Zap took out his mobile phone and stepped aside to make the call. The phone rang. It rang again, and it was picked up.

"Quinnell residence, what do you want?" Zap's sister, Beth, answered.

"You're lucky it's me and not some poor innocent person," Zap said, smiling.

"Julian! Hi. Now, what do you want? I'm in the middle of something."

"Then why did you answer the phone? Never mind. I need to talk to Mum."

"Why?" Beth was clearly just trying to annoy her brother now, all previous plans forgotten.

"Just let me talk to her."

"Not until you tell me what you want."

Zap sighed. "I don't remember which kind of baby wipes Mum complained about."

"Why do you need to know that?"

"Because I need to know."

Beth was quiet for a moment, and then yelled to someone else, "Julian got some girl pregnant!"

Zap could hear the commotion in the background and started to tell his sister that he did not, but didn't get the chance, as his mother took the phone then.

"You got a girl pregnant?" she questioned.

"No, I didn't. My friend is pregnant, not with my child. I'm just helping with the baby shopping."

"You better not be lying to me."

"I'm not! I just need to know what baby wipes you didn't like." Zap felt this was going nowhere.

"Good, because if you are—" His mother started off on a rant, and Zap tried to interject, with little luck.

"Okay, Mum, I'll just pick one. Okay, bye." He ended the call and turned back to Karen, who was trying not to giggle, and Liam, who looked in his direction with slight interest.

"Right. Now, just pick one, I'm sure they're all the same."

"I can't believe you're leaving," Karen said in her best _how-dare-you _voice.

Liam resisted the urge to growl. "You've known about this tour for months."

"I can't _believe _you're _leaving _me."

"I'm not _leaving _you! I'm just going on tour for a couple months—"

"_Four _months." She scowled. "You won't be back until the baby's almost born."

He shifted his weight uncomfortably. "Karen, I—"

"_Karen, I_ what?"

"Mum'll be here for ya. And Melissa said she'd stop and check in on you as often as she could. And I'll be in contact with you. Call every day, promise, I—"

"Yeah. Right."

He sighed. "Karen, what do you want from me? I can't cancel the tour, not now—"

She glared at him. "It's fine," she said angrily, turned, and stomped away.

Liam groaned aloud. Pat walked up and poked him in the ribs. "Go after her or you're a bloody idiot, Liam," he advised.

So Liam gave chase, but before he could catch up with her, she was in his mother's car, and they were gone.

Liam kicked a tire and swore.

God, he needed a hit.


	5. Chapter 5

Title: Backstage  
Authors: ChicaFrom3 and the Shea  
Rating: PG-13, drug use and drinking, sex, the whole rockstar bit  
Disclaimer: We do not own Charlie, Liam, Karen, or Megan. They belong to JJ Abrams or someone else not us. We also do not own Sinjin, Patrick, Melissa, or Zap. They belong to the lovelies over at Second Tour of Finland (www(dot)driveshaftband(dot)com). We do own Catherine, James, Mrs. Murphy, Naomi, Zap's family, and the poor desk clerk in Dresden.  
Note: The majority of this story was written before Fire+Water aired, and as such is slightly AU.  
Thanks: Thanks to Niki, for beta-ing even while you're sick and amid ten hour shifts at work.

**

* * *

**

**CHAPTER FIVE**

"Hullo, hullo, hullo!"

Karen groaned apathetically.

The bedroom door popped open and a tousled burgundy head poked in. "Karen, dah-ling."

"Go 'way, Melissa."

"Can't. Promised Pat and Liam I'd keep an eye on you."

"I'm not going anywhere. I don't need anyone keeping an eye on me."

"Wrong!"

"What?"

Melissa Reid smiled brightly. "You, my lady Murphy, are indeed going out today. I'm taking you on a full girls' day out. Lunch, shopping, spa, the works. While the band's away, the girls will play."

Karen looked up at her.

"Come _on_, you're pregnant, you deserve to be pampered. And I'm bored, so I deserve to be pampered too. I'm paying. Well, Pat's paying. Pat's share of the royalties is paying? Anyway, let's go."

She couldn't help but laugh, and let Melissa pull her to her feet.

Karen wondered when, exactly, she had forgotten how great a girls' day out was.

"Thanks so much for this, Melissa," she said over lunch.

"Oh, don't worry about it, darling, this is a treat for me as much as for you," Melissa said with a happy laugh.

And then a flash went off.

Both women looked up sharply.

"What was that?"

"Somebody took a picture."

"Could be innocent," Karen suggested nervously. "Tourist taking a picture of the café or something."

"Could be," Melissa agreed grimly. "Or it could be an asshole who wants to make a couple bucks."

"Melissa—"

But the other woman was scanning the café for the source of the camera flash. And then she found it. "Son of a _bitch_!"

Karen twisted as best as she could in her condition and spotted the young man scrambling away from them, camera in hand and a ridiculous grin on his face, and felt a flash of anger. "Melissa—"

"Oh, you are _not _getting away from me," Melissa muttered furiously, shot out of her chair, and was after the guy like a bolt of lightning.

Karen managed to get herself to her feet and over to her friend just as Melissa was reaching the point of maximum fury. The photographer looked scared to death and was practically shaking.

"I don't give a _damn _what kind of money you can make off this photo or what you _need _the money for or why it's totally _not _an invasion of privacy, my friend and I were enjoying a quiet lunch together and do _not _need to be _interrupted_ by some _snot-nosed brat _who figures that since we're dating musicians we're _fair game _or whatever _shit _it is you _justify _yourself by and if I _ever _see you take _another _picture of _anyone _without their _consent_ I will castrate and then defenestrate you—"

"Uhhh, sorry, miss," he said tentatively. "Aren't those the same things?"

"Get an education, little boy. As a matter of fact, if you don't get an education, I will defenestrate you anyway. Now give me the camera and get the hell out of my sight."

He timidly turned over the camera, then paused and said, "Okay, I'm going to get out of your sight, ma'am, but you should know—"

And he pointed past them.

Both women turned to look.

"Oh, _shit_!"

"I think we're safe," Melissa announced, locking the door behind Karen. "Or, well, okay, not safe? But safe_r_? And…yeah…"

Karen had stopped listening, staring around Melissa's flat in absolute astonishment.

"What?" Melissa asked blankly, then realized. "Oh, yeah. I haven't had a chance to clean up lately."

"Uhhh…"

Karen had never seen a messier flat in her life.

It looked like a tornado followed by a hurricane had torn through a labyrinth then been stomped on by minotaurs and then ravaged by a herd of moshers.

"How is it at all possible that this flat belongs to _you_? You're the organized one!"

"Well, uhh…" Melissa looked sheepish. "I'm kind of organized in everything but housekeeping…" At Karen's incredulous look, Melissa threw her hands up in defeat. "What? It's not like I'm Zap! I can't keep a thousand things in my mind at once! I top out at nine hundred ninety-nine!"

"It's good to know you have a limit, at least." She gingerly cleared some books and clothing from the couch and lowered herself to a seat.

The remaining few months passed without too much excitement, so long as Karen stayed indoors pretty much all the time. It suited her fine though, her feet hurt a lot and it was so hard to find a clean public washroom…

It was the eighth of May, six days until the baby was due to be born. Liam would be home in three days. Good thing, they hadn't actually discussed the issue of baby names, and with the fourteenth rapidly approaching… Karen hadn't actually considered that the baby might decide to come early. She couldn't deal with that. So long as her baby came when it was supposed to, she would manage.

Sinjin's sister, Naomi, a senior at Oxford and far too smart for her own good, had shown up on the second, having forgotten that her brother would not be back until the eleventh, and holed up at the Pace's with Karen. She was a somewhat pleasant person, if not a bit loud and pretentious. Why she had chosen the Pace's, Karen had no idea, but she was slightly grateful for the company.

On this particular evening, Naomi, two years Karen's senior, had decided that she would impart some life wisdom on the blonde, taking complete advantage of the fact that Karen was unable to slip away discreetly.

Karen had, however tuned her out about five seconds in. She was knitting. She hadn't knitted a day before she got pregnant, but took it up when there was nothing to do, and it seemed fitting for a pregnant woman.

She was fully involved in the scarf she was knitting, when she felt the most peculiar sensation and a flood of wetness between her legs. It took a moment to realize what it must be, but once she figured it out, she threw down the pathetic excuse for a scarf and tried to get Naomi's attention. Or possibly James', he was somewhere in the house.

"Hey! I think my water just broke!" Karen said loudly. Naomi, as it turned out, had several minutes before, turned her ranting to a news program on the television. She did not hear Karen.

Karen repeated herself louder this time, and both James and Catherine came running in. Karen stood up, fully content to leave Naomi there.

"I'm sorry, I ruined your nice couch…" Karen trailed off but Catherine shooed off Karen's apology. She was right on top of things.

"James, call Liam! The hotel numbers are on the table! Karen, get into the car! Naomi, turn off that horrible racket and pack a bag for Karen!" Catherine gave the orders and everyone followed them. Karen toddled down to the car, Naomi went for Karen and Liam's room, and James ran into the kitchen.

Catherine went with Karen. Karen, who was sure that she could pack her own bags, and was it really necessary to go to the hospital this early?

Catherine didn't listen, of course, and within the next fifteen minutes, Karen was lying on a bed in the maternity unit of the nearest hospital. The doctors had mostly ignored her, her contractions were too far apart yet, but Catherine had not left her side. She had even procured some ice chips from a passing nurse. Karen was thoroughly impressed, but all in all, kind of bored. It was mostly waiting from here on out.

Of course, the baby was early, and Karen was a bit panicky about that, where was Liam? Was he on a flight yet? How long would it take? Would he even show up?


	6. Chapter 6

Title: Backstage  
Authors: ChicaFrom3 and the Shea  
Rating: PG-13, drug use and drinking, sex, the whole rockstar bit  
Disclaimer: We do not own Charlie, Liam, Karen, or Megan. They belong to JJ Abrams or someone else not us. We also do not own Sinjin, Patrick, Melissa, or Zap. They belong to the lovelies over at Second Tour of Finland (www(dot)driveshaftband(dot)com). We do own Catherine, James, Mrs. Murphy, Naomi, Zap's family, and the poor desk clerk in Dresden.  
Note: The majority of this story was written before Fire+Water aired, and as such is slightly AU.  
Thanks: Thanks to Niki, for beta-ing even while you're sick and amid ten hour shifts at work. Yes, I'm still slow at updating. Yes, this is the final installment. The story of Karen and Liam is now complete. Thank you to our very few reviewers: leogal063 and rikku118 at FFN; thatsaid on Livejournal; and Anastashia at Exisle. You guys rock hard, y'know that?

* * *

**CHAPTER SIX**

Down the lobby, James tried dialing the hotel number again. The desk clerk nearly refused to connect him to Liam's room, but after a few threats, he connected it.

It rang, and rang, and rang. No answer at all. Frustrated, James slammed the pay phone back onto the hook, and decided he should perhaps call Melissa. He felt Karen could probably use her company, since Naomi was starting to grate on even Catherine. Naomi had stayed with them before, but not this long, and usually Sinjin was there as well. He was slightly put out that she had barged in, but he had long ago come to terms with the fact that his household was not really his own anymore.

* * *

In another country, and earlier that evening, Liam had sulked in his hotel room. He had this feeling like something important would happen, and he's miss it if he left the room. He really wanted to go out with the rest of the band though.

Charlie had nearly dragged Liam out of the room. They weren't playing a show that night and had plans to simply party. Get completely sloshed and sleep the next day away. Zap had protested to the plans, but gave in when he realized he was defeated.

So that's why Liam was not in his room. He was, in fact, stumbling about a back alley in Dresden, looking for someone from whom he could get a hit, and Charlie was right there with him. The nagging feeling in the back of his mind that something was wrong had fully taken over his mind, but he wrote it off as drug-induced. Or rather, lack-of-drug-induced.

He got back to the room at a rather late, or early in some people's minds, hour, to find the light on the number on the phone blinking. There was a message for him at the front desk. Liam debated between getting the message, or going to bed. The bed seemed to be calling to him. The feeling that had bothered him all night was back, and so he instead got a glass of water, drank it, and went down to the front desk.

The poor desk clerk looked positively mortified at the sight of Liam. He was probably new, assigned to the night shift because it would be 'easier'.

"2024. Message," Liam grunted, and the desk clerk shuffled papers around.

"Um, it's from a James Pace. And it reads 'Liam, you will get your sorry ass back to Manchester the very second you get this message, or you will regret it. Karen is having the baby.'" The desk clerk recited the message, probably a violation of some protocol, but neither he nor Liam cared.

Liam had paled having heard that Karen was in the hospital. He croaked out his question. "When was the message left?"

"Seven hours ago," the desk clerk squeaked out. He really hoped this Liam would leave soon.

Liam had every intention to do just that. He didn't have the energy to gloat to Charlie that he was right, he'd do that later. But he packed in record time, and had himself and Charlie checked out a full five minutes after getting the message.

Luck seemed to be on their side, as they caught a plane in a timely fashion, going right to Manchester.

* * *

At the hospital, Karen was getting anxious. Melissa had arrived, but no Liam. She cursed him as she was rolled into the delivery room, and cursed him during the entire miserable thing.

It was slightly less miserable after the painkillers, though. She wondered where the drugs were, and had grabbed a passing person in scrubs and demanded the drugs.

Still miserable though.

* * *

The baby was a girl. She was seven pounds, three ounces. Wisps of blonde hair on the top of her head. Karen named her Megan. Megan was the name of Liam's grandmother. Karen did not want to wait for Liam for the naming, she was pretty pissed off at him, and she was tempted not to even include Pace in the name, but she decided to wait for that. It was only fair. Moral high road and all that.

She fell asleep instead.

* * *

Liam got there after Karen had fallen asleep. Catherine had hugged him and congratulated him, while James was rather cold. But he did learn his daughter's name.

He'd seen his daughter, the tiny scrap of humanity that would depend on him for everything. The human being he had helped create. It sunk in, he was a father. There was no going back. He wasn't even sure if he wanted to go back. These past nine months had changed him. He found himself wanting to care for Karen and their child, Megan. Catherine had informed him that Karen said he could pick her middle name. Liam thought this would warrant some thought.

In the meantime, Liam slipped into Karen's room and watched her sleep. He realized, for the first time, that he loved her. He couldn't go back to life without her.

He knew that he couldn't keep on as he was. He had a choice, and his choice was family, or drugs.

Was it really a choice? Watching Karen sleep, having seen his daughter…

It would be hard. He knew that. But he knew what he had to do.


End file.
